PERCIVAL LOWELL AND LAFCADIO HEARN: CONDUITS OF JAPANESE CULTURE

Bostonian Percival Lowell traveled to Japan in the 1880s, producing the first serious studies of the country for the American public. His writing inspired Lafcadio Hearn to settle in Japan, ultimately to become the most popular American conduit of Japanese culture of his generation.

After reading Lowell's The Soul of the Far East, Hearn not only moved to Japan but also married a Japanese, learned the language, and adopted Japanese dress. Appointed lecturer in English at the Imperial University at Tokyo, he published his reflections on Japanese life for an American audience. Quoted in Basil Chamberlain's widely popular Things Japanese: Being notes on Various Subjects Connected with Japan for the Use of Travellers and Others, 1891, Hearn said, ". . . watching the happy life of these people, I doubt whether our civilization is morally all we believe it to be."

The Boy Who Drew Cats, Rendered into English by Lafcadio Hearn. Tokyo: T. Hasegawa, 1898.

One of a series of Japanese tales for children printed on crepe paper in dazzling color.